Chapter 708: Badger Game (VIII)

The red dancer felt her regret down in her intestines as she recalled her actions. Thankfully, she still had the Nine Grade Loyalty Seal, meaning she still had a chance to turn the tables.

When she finally used the seal to control Jiang Pengji, she would get her revenge on her own stage. She’d torture Jiang Pengji until she begged for her life!

The red dancer chose to pay in installments. The system and the woman came to an agreement and revived the dancer.

The broken neck and pierced heart were both repaired completely. She opened her eyes to find herself beneath a snowy burial mound. The bones of fallen men were still peeking out from the snow, causing her to hastily run away in a panic.

Her body was still cold and hard to move around, so she had to stay in a dormant position while she planned her next move.

Dawn arrived, waking Yang Si with a timely summons from his biological clock. He rubbed his eyes and found himself surrounded by warm blankets. Two extinguished charcoal braziers sat nearby.

“L-lord?” Yang Si’s head turned as he remembered what had happened last night. Yet Jiang Pengji’s voice answered from outside the tent.

“You’re awake?” Jiang Pengji had already changed into clean clothes. She looked at Yang Si with a faint smile.

“My lord.” Yang Si felt his old bones and leg muscles aching in pain. Indeed, anyone who’d been forced to sleep in a curled-up position like that would get some complaints from their limbs.

“Go clean yourself up a bit. We’ll discuss how we’ll ask Xu Pei to repay us for this matter afterward.”

Even though Xu Pei was not guilty, Jiang Pengji made it clear that she was deliberately provoking him. It wouldn’t be her style unless she attempted to gain some kind of profit out of this.

Yang Si nodded and responded with a grim expression. “We do need to settle matters with him. If not for my lord’s strength in martial arts, nobody would’ve known what happened last night.”

Yang Si didn’t know the full story, so he didn’t realize that Jiang Pengji was purposely making the provocation. He didn’t know that this was a hole she’d dug herself.

Did Jiang Pengji know that something was off about that lead dancer?

It was exactly because she knew something was wrong with the dancer that she’d decided to go with the flow and create this badger game to play.

Poor Xu Pei had even given her the person in question and helped her to successfully create this plot.

Last night, while Yang Si had a good rest, Jiang Pengji had gotten an even better night’s sleep. Only Xu Pei and his subordinates hadn’t gotten any rest.

Who could sleep at a time like this?

Who’d ripped off Chun’er’s face?

Who’d glued Chun’er’s face onto that female assassin and ordered her to kill Liu Xi?

Who’d formulated this plot to kill Liu Xi in his camp, then frame him despite his good morals?

Numerous questions clouded the minds of these men as the heavy atmosphere within the commanding officer’s tent’s practically leaked out the door.

Finally, Xu Pei opened his mouth and broke the deathly silence. “Do you all think… that perhaps this whole thing… was the doing of the second brother?”

Everyone in the tent looked at each other. Truthfully, their first suspect was also Xu Fei.

However, this sibling quarrel was an infamous scandal. The subordinates weren’t in the right place to interfere with their lord and family’s business.

Xu Pei and Xu Fei were the direct descendants of the Xu family line. Because the head of the house was still their grandfather, both grandsons had the right to inherit the Xu family.

In terms of familial hierarchy, as the elder grandson, Xu Pei was naturally the more fitting choice. He was kind and well-mannered, a skillful and talented young man with a very prestigious reputation in the arts and society.

However, the current head of the Xu family had a preference for Xu Fei. This grandson was much more handsome and looked very similar to the current head when he was younger, naturally earning the love of his elder. Xu Fei was also a very smooth talker and often praised his grandfather with sweet words.

This was one thing that Xu Pei couldn’t win from his younger cousin.

If only Xu Fei was a useless boy. In that case, there wouldn’t have been a problem. But Xu Fei wasn’t weak, and as the two cousins grew older, the competition between them grew more heated.

While they would sometimes resort to underhanded moves, it was never out of line. This was perhaps a silent agreement between the two brothers.

Xu Pei couldn’t imagine that his quiet younger cousin could be as cruel to assassinate someone… If not for the fact that Liu Xi had a martial arts master to protect him, perhaps Liu She would have united two states into one and sought revenge if Liu Xi had died last night.

If this plot were to succeed, the Xu family would perhaps give him up to appease Liu She, allowing Liu She to take him hostage as a form of apology… Xu Pei shivered in fear as he thought about this. What a malicious plot!

Aside from Xu Fei, he couldn’t think of another suspect.

“Let me ask you all, do you think this was all the second brother’s plan?” Xu Pei asked again in a louder voice. The men in the tent couldn’t remain silent any longer and forced themselves to confront this question.

“We do not want to believe it, but the possibility that it was the doing of the second lord is… very high…”

The thought that Jiang Pengji had brought this vengeance plot on herself was not something that crossed any of their minds.

The evidence all pointed towards the culprit being someone very familiar with Xu Pei’s camp. Otherwise, how would have they known where the dancer was? And how would they have known that Xu Pei had invited Liu Xi to the banquet to reel the Liu father and son duo over to their side?

If it hadn’t been a carefully planned plot, how would the culprit have killed the dancer and ripped her face off without anyone knowing?

It was clear that there had been a spy in the camp. Xu Pei and Xu Fei’s long-time competition made the brothers very familiar with each other’s strategies. Sending spies into each other’s camp was not uncommon.

If Xu Fei knew about this, he would be awed. Such a big burden of responsibility!

Xu Pei painfully closed his eyes.

Despite being competitors for many years, the two were still brothers. He would have never intended to murder his own family. But now… this cousin of his had stabbed him in the waist and truly hurt him.

However, he had no time for remorse or to weep over the death of their brotherly bond. The most important thing right now was securing Liu Xi and amending their relationship. Even if they could no longer go back to the way they’d been before, they could not turn against each other. At the very least, they could not let the second brother take advantage of this situation.

Therefore, Xu Pei’s target became the leader of this alliance. If he messed up and angered the Liu family, making them turn towards Xu Fei’s side, he would suffer a great loss…

The camp discussed the matter through the night and thought of numerous plans to amend their mistake. Xu Pei felt like a prisoner waiting for the final judgment to come down, anxiously waiting for a conclusion to be reached.

They stayed awake the whole night, but Jiang Pengji had a very good night’s sleep. She had her breakfast before taking Yang Si to visit Xu Pei.

“My bother!” Xu Pei called out like he’d seen a close relative the moment he saw Jiang Pengji. He said it almost too longingly, causing everyone to feel their goosebumps rise.

“Brother Xu!”

Compared to her passionate demeanor last night, Jiang Pengji’s attitude was a bit colder in the morning.

Xu Pei didn’t find it awkward. He said, “I heard that you were targeted last night. Do you know who the culprit is?”

Jiang Pengji sneered back, “I was almost killed in brother Xu’s camp. The assassin was even a dancer that brother gifted to me. I should be the one asking you that, brother Xu!”

He was, of course, upset. Xu Pei sighed silently.

“What happened last night was the doing of a spy. I see you as my own family, what reason would I have to hurt you?” Despite being sincere with his words, Xu Pei didn’t announce the culprit. Instead, he summoned a few people as witnesses. “The lowly spy was merciless with their ways. They ripped off a human face and disguised themself as a dancer in an attempt to assassinate you… However, you are correct in saying that this was the result of a mistake of your brother here. I should not have given her to you… alas…”

Jiang Pengji’s facial expression grew hesitant as her heart moved slightly.

Xu Pei continued and analyzed the situation carefully. If Liu Xi had died here, the first person to be affected would have been him. Why would he dig his own grave?

“So, you’re saying that it wasn’t…” Jiang PengJi swallowed the other half of the sentence and slowed down her tone. With a hint of concern, she said, “I didn’t know it was the doing of people who want to slander you. So, I’m simply an unfortunate target who got dragged into this? T-then, aren’t you in even more danger now?”